Clapton Conquers Charlotte

Eric Clapton’s 50th Anniversary Tour made a stop at the Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, NC on Tuesday night. It was going to be a night filled with songs from five decades of the three-time Rock and Roll Hall of famer.

Clapton and his band came out to a standing ovation and methodically went into a couple of acoustic songs, “Hello Old Friend” and “My Father’s Eyes.”

Now it was time to bring out the electric guitar, and they then went into “Tell The Truth,” a Derek and the Dominos song.

Clapton also featured “Gotta Get Over,” a track off of his new album “Old Sock.”

“Got To Get Better In A Little While” was a super funky tune with purple disco lights circling around the stage. The highlight of the song had to be bassist Willie Weeks’ solo.

Paul Carrack, keyboards, even got to sing his own songs, “Tempted” by Squeeze and Ace’s “How Long.”

The biggest pops of the night came when Clapton played his radio hits like “I Shot The Sheriff” and “Crossroads.”

An emotional moment happened when Clapton was sitting on a chair with his acoustic guitar and began to play “Tears In Heaven,” an ode to his son who was tragically killed in 1991. The entire arena let out a collective “awwww” when he started the song up.

They ended the set with the power chord driven song “Cocaine.” Everyone in the band had a chance to do a solo with the extended jam.

The band then walked off the stage, and the lights went dark for the encore.

They then came back out and cranked up the Cream classic “Sunshine Of Your Love” and ultimately ended with the Joe Cocker cover “High Time We Went.”

Clapton has a massive catalog but left out several hits like “After Midnight,” “Lay Down Sally” and the Cream hits. But the biggest omission had to be “Layla.”

Clapton proved he still has what time takes to be an arena filler. He showcased both his electric and acoustic sets. This may have been his 50th Anniversary Tour but it looks likes Clapton has many more years left to satisfy his fans.